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NBA trades have often set organizations back 10 years in progress while sending the other team to pick up bright shinny rings each summer on a regular basis...

10 Worst NBA Trades of All-Time: Will Shaq To Suns Ever Join This List?

by matt morello (Contributor)

48

30818 reads

History

December 19, 2008


NBA trades have often set organizations back 10 years in progress while sending the other team to pick up bright shinny rings each summer on a regular basis. Sometimes you hardly even notice these moves when they occur, but in retrospect you can't fathom the rationale.

Shaquille O'Neal's trade to the Phoenix Suns has conjured up some very strong opinions and many believe it has the potential to make this list in the future.

I still have mixed feelings. Phoenix is taking a considerable risk that Shaq has some healthy playoff games left, but if the Diesel is motivated by winning basketball this could very well end up in another NBA Championship and potentially putting the trade below for inverse reasoning.

With this big blockbuster in mind, here the 10 NBA trades that turned into the biggest busts of all-time.



1. 1996Hornets traded Kobe Bryant to the Lakers for Vlade Divac.

If you judge success based on the ability to consume two cartons of cigarettes a day and still function athletically, then maybe you don't view this trade as being all that lopsided. On top of Vlade's remarkable lungs, he only played two seasons for then the Charlotte Hornets averaging 11.5 ppg and 8.5 rpg. Kobe on the other hand has averaged 24.8 ppg so far during his Lakers career. He has won three NBA titles, is a 10-time All-Star, nine-time All-NBA, two-time NBA scoring champion, and has several good years left.

Worst.Trade.Ever.

2. 1980 DraftCeltics traded their first overall for Robert Parrish and the Warriors' third pick in exchange for Joe Barry Carroll and Ricky Brown. Boston eventually chose Kevin McHale with that third pick.

I'm judging most of these worst trades by the championship success of those players that changed hands. This is a tricky one to add as it wasn't a direct trade, but regardless, Golden State not only botched on Parrish but they also missed badly on their draft choice. Parrish and McHale would go on to win three NBA titles with the Celtics and had 16 All-Star game appearances between the two. Golden State is, well, Golden State.

3. 1998Mavericks traded Robert Traylor to the Bucks for Dirk Nowitzki.

Who knows how Nowitzki would have turned out playing for the Bucks all these years, but this remains one of the worst draft day trades of all time. Nowitzki just racked up his first NBA MVP award to add to his seven All-NBA teams and seven All-Star appearances.

Meanwhile, "Tractor" Traylor was recently sentenced to three years probationfor his role in doing money laundering for a big-time drug trafficker. But hey, at least he's still playing professionally in Puerto Rico. Cockfights are better than Dallas.

4.
199276ers traded Charles Barkley to the Suns for Andrew Lang, Tim Perry and Jeff Hornacek.

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48 comments Last one added 2 months ago — Leave a Comment

  1. ...

    Great article, who doesn't love Vlade though?

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      In fairness to the Hornets, didn't Vlade have a few decent seasons with the team and help them to the playoffs? At the time it was a fair trade. I'd argue that NO ONE could have ever forseen how good Kobe would become.

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    You forgot that Traylor was traded for Nowitzki and Pat Garrity. It wasnt heads up. Oh, and Pat Garrity was later traded that same night with Bubba Wells, Martin Muursepp and a first round pick to the suns for Steve Nash. Had that pick not had turned out to be Shawn Marion, you might just have another trade to put in here

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      Mike you do realize that Steve Nash was horrible in his first few years with the Suns. In fact I don't know how he managed to stick around for so long. It wasn't until he was under Don Nelson's system that he finally became a decent point guard. It took Nash four years to develop and look at what he's doing now that he's not in a run and gun system he's back to playing mediocre basketball.

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    Nice list, but you're forgetting possibly the worst trade in NBA history.

    St. Louis gave up Bill Russell for Ed Macauley on draft day. Macauley retired three years later.

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    The number 1 trade is a joke how long did Divac play in Charlotte? Why was Kobe traded to the Lakers in the first place? Have you forgotten the fact that Kobe refused to play in Charlotte? That he would only play for the Lakers.

    This is one of the reasons why Kobe will never be better than Michael Jordan. Can you imagine Michael Jordan stating he would never play for Chicago?

    Vlade only played two years in Charlotte 11.5 points per game, 8.5 rebounds per game, shot .496 from the floor, and averaged 3.2 assists as well. Vlade was never going to be the first option offense anyways and Charlotte didn't really need Kobe Bryant either.

    The team was lead by Glen Rice and Anthony Mason. The Hornets that year went 54-28 and finished third. The next year the Hornets went 51-31. The team was lead again by Glen Rice and Anthony Mason, but they also had newcomers like David Wesley, Matt Geiger, and Bobby Phills.

    In Kobe's first two years he started only seven games. Yes, you heard me seven games. Ask yourself this at the time of the trade who would the Hornets want an unproven Kobe Bryant or a proven Glen Rice? The answer of course was Glen Rice.

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      you are crazy if you dont think that was one of the all time worst trades. The Hornets had the draft rights to Kobe Bryant who is one of the top 50 players to ever play the game and traded that away for Vlade Divac, a serviceable big man. Look at you even compared him to, "He will never be Michael Jordan." The fact that this is even a remotely debatable point about Kobe Bryant proves this was a horrendous trade for the Hornets. Thats what made Jerry West the best, he saw greatness in Kobe and plucked him for an obviously unsuspecting team. Name a trade thats more one sided than Kobe for Vlade straight up then. Oh and one more thing.... trades are never evaluated in the first year or two. We have the benefit of 12 years to look back at the fruit or lack-thereof of this trade. Kobe won a championship playing ALONGSIDE glen rice in LA. If Kobe refused to play in Charlotte it was their responsibility to find fair market value for him. Jerry West was just ten steps ahead of the entire Hornets organization.

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      Barry by your reasoning then the trade was horrible because Kobe turned into a great player, but it wasn't like Divac made the Hornets or the Kings horrible. In fact it was the Kings and Lakers with Divac and Webber leading the way against Shaq and Kobe. It wasn't a horrible trade because both teams benefitted from the trade.

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      Even the first quote to start of the article states "NBA trades have often set organizations back 10 years" Really did the trade done by Charlotte to pick up Divac and give the Lakers the 13th pick in the draft really set the Hornets back 10 years? The answer is no. So, part of his criteria for bad trades wasn't even met. The Hornets were playoff contenders for the two years that Divac was there.

      Divac signed with the Sacramento Kings after his two year stint with the Hornets. The Kings were known as perennial losers usually their teams were well below .500. In comes Divac and the Kings become a solid team.

      With Divac the Kings won 27 games (50 game season because of strike), 44 wins, 55 wins, 61 wins, 59 wins, and 55 wins,

      So that means the Kings with Divac on the team the Kings average amount of wins in a season was 55 and the amount of losses was only 27. So, yeah Divac is a horrible player and that signifies the worst trade in NBA history. Oh, I'm sorry I'm just being sarcastic. This was far from being one of the worst trades ever.

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    There are far worse trades then your number one. Such as the trade that the Golden State Warriors did with the Sacramento Kings. Mitch Richmond for Billy Owens.

    Another one is Latrell Sprewell to the New York Knicks for John Starks, Chris Mills, and Terry Cummings.

    How about another trade done by the Warriors Tim Hardaway and Chris Gatling for Kevin Willis and Bimbo Coles.

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    The answer for the Shaq trade to the Suns becoming in the top 10 the answer is no. Neither players is going to stay on either team long enough to make it a lopsided trade in the first place. Not only that Shaq was the best defender for the Suns on Tim Duncan in the playoffs last year. At least he was the only one trying.

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    Charles Barkley said it himself Shaq has been the best player on the suns this year. not to mention Marion isn't really that good anyway. If they kept Marion they wouldn't have gone anywhere so it is irrelevant.

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  8. ...

    What about Vince Carter for scrubs?

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    The grant hill trade was not bad at all. Atkins was productive and Wallace ended up being a "decent" defender. Reminder, Hill barely played for the magic because of the injury. So not a bad trade.

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      Read the article again. That's what the author is saying. He's actually arguing that its a bad trade because the Magic got screwed. Do you realize that Grant Hill was injured for hundreds of games? Obviously, the Pistons got the good end of that deal.

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    How can the Scottie Pippen for Olden Polynice not even be mentioned? I don't see how any other trade had more of an impact in the NBA landscape than this draft-day debacle. Would Jordan have six rings if Pippen was absent through those runs?

    I find it difficult to put "I demand to be traded" trades in this list (Kobe, Barkley). Those demands totally diminish the true value that a squad could acquire. If you want to say that drafting Kobe was a mistake in the first place, knowing that he will never play for your team, then you have a case (Hornets could have gotten Steve Nash or Jermaine O'Neal). And you have to remember that Andrew Lang was a highly desirable player at the time. Many teams were going after him.

    Hornacek was averaging 20ppg before the trade and Barkely was averaging 23ppg. Hornacek was also the 3rd best 3-point shooter in the league at the time. The 76ers choice to place him at PG was pretty stupid--perhaps they should have traded Hershey Hawkins earlier. But I don't think the Barkley trade should be on any "worst trades" list.

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    I actually take issue with a lot of this list.

    First, I agree with Bill. Including "I demand to be traded" type deals is difficult as the context of the situation really effects the value. Shaq and Barkley basically forced their way off their respective teams. In Shaq's case his bloated salary combined with the salary cap issues made it nearly impossible to deal him except to a few teams. At least the Lakers got Butler and Odom, two pretty good players. And while Shaq did win a title in Miami, he can thank Dwayne Wade and the refs for that. It's not like Shaq alone carried the squad.

    Second, you have a slew of draft day deals in there. Due to NBA rules, the trades are agreed upon before the picks are made, but the deals are announced afterwards. It's not like Vlade was traded for Kobe. Or that the Hornets really drafted Kobe. The Lakers made the deal and chose Kobe via the Hornets. The trade was really Divac for the #13 pick. And if you look throughout NBA history at the value of that pick, getting Vlade is actually decent value. It just happens that the Lakers nailed the selection.

    Ditto the Traylor/Nowitski swap, the Roy/Foye swap, the Jefferson/Grffin swap, and the Brand/Chandler swap. These were all draft pick deals. The Bucks traded up to get the sixth pick and take Traylor. They botched the pick, but the trade itself was sound. They just should have picked someone else.

    Even the Chandler/Brand swap. If the Clippers had taken Gasol instead, would you consider it a bad deal? You're evaluating the team's ability to draft, not the strength of the trade. For example, the Grizzlies ended up trading the #2 pick in the draft for Otis Thorpe. That was a horrid trade. But it doesn't make your list, probably because the Pistons botched the pick on Darko instead of Carmelo, Wade, or Bosh. I'd consider the Thorpe deal much worse than any of the draft pick swaps that just happened to turn out bad in hindsight. Those aren't bad deals, just bad selections.

    Finally, the Grant Hill deal. That was a sign and trade (which really isn't even a real trade). If you include all sign and trade deals, they'd generally look lopsided for the other team. This one turned out bad because Orlando dumped Wallace. But they would have dumped Wallace anyways, just like Washington did.

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    Even though the Shaq to the Heat trade appeared lopsided at the time, i dont think you can evaluate it just based on the fact that the Heat won a championship two years later. You also have to consider how badly they played as a team his last two seasons. In 07 they got swept by the Bulls and in 08 had the worst record in the league before he was traded. This was largely due to Shaq's declining skills and bloated contract. The Lakers received Brian Grant (bloated contract), Lamar Odom, Caron Butler (who was traded for Kwame Brown, who was the centerpiece in the Pau Gasol trade, and the 21st pick (the Lakers selected Jordan Farmar. While the trade appeared lopsided at the time Noone the lakers recieved back is older than 28 so they are set up quite nicely with Lamar Odom, Pau Gasol, and Jordan Farmar for the near future. The Heat have that championship season and an expiring contract in Shawn Marion as the remnants of that trade.

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    I agree with everyone on the demanded trades really not being legitimate for this argument. People forget that when Kobe was drafted, high schoolers skipping college was a new thing. It was something that everyone knew had potential, but feared at the same time.

    NBA execs all over feared that players drafted out of high school would still take four years to have a legitimate impact for their team. What they feared more was that taking these guys that were already superstars and sitting them on a bench would mess with their psyche.

    They also feared that their high school careers wouldn't transfer to successful NBA careers. It is hard enough for them to select college players that end up successful. The 2001 NBA draft is a perfect example. Kwame Brown went #1, Tyson Chandler #2 and Eddy Curry #4. Look back on their careers and I don't think they warrant three out of the top four picks. Other notable top 10 picks out of high school that bombed are; Jonathan Bender #5 in 1999, and Darius Miles #3 in 2000.

    So, when you look at the draft, the Hornets got a piece they needed at the time. High school players hadn't proven in full that they could forgo college and have successful professional careers. Even to this date, I would say that most of the high school players would have benefited from two years in college.

    Basically, IMO, Jerry West wasn't a genius for this pick. He merely could afford to take a chance that Charlotte didn't feel they could. Sometimes teams just get lucky; Bulls with Michael Jordan at #3 is one example.

    So basically, the Hornets decided they wanted a player they knew could step in and play right away. They got that, and could have very well been giving away a mere role player. Or, like Bender and Miles, someone that was almost non existent in the NBA.

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    A trade that WILL be on a future list is Dallas trading Devin Harris who is a young talent with a bright future to New Jersey for Jason Kidd, who's career is on the decline. Sounds good at the first thought but when Kidd is retired within the next few years Harris is going to be an all-star. And for you stat-whores Harris is averaging more points, rebounds and minutes since the trade. Kidd is averaging just under 2 more assists.

    Only reason this trade happened was so the Mavs could keep up with the Lakers and Suns who made big mid season moves. But in the end, was it really worth it?

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    The Lakers traded Vlade Divac to the Hornets for Kobe because they needed to free up cap space with which to sign Shaq. It wasn't that Kobe refused to play for anyone but the Lakers. Once the Lakers fell in love with him they told him not to work out for anyone else and convinced Charlotte to draft him for them. Had Charlotte not traded Alonzo Mourning to Miami the year before they wouldn't have needed to acquire another center.

    I don't know what bullshit story Steven is making up. Vlade was still a top-10 center back then. The Lakers then traded Anthony Peeler and George Lynch to the Grizzlies for two second round picks to get even more cap space with which to sign Shaq.

    Nobody knew how good Kobe was going to be because KG was the only high schooler picked before him. The only reason he only started 7 games was because he was 18 and the Lakers still had Eddie Jones.

    The only reason Divac only played two years in Charlotte was because of the lockout. As soon as it ended the Kings signed him for six years and $62.5 million, an outrageous sum, but something the Kings had to do in order to get anyone to sign with them. To this day, he's the most important free agent signing in Kings history.

    By the way, the Hornets got the Lakers back a few years later when they traded Glen Rice for Eddie Jones and Elden Campbell.

    Dominique, by the way, only played 34 games for the Clippers so I don't know what makes that trade for Danny Manning so bad.

    If you think Shaq for Odom, Butler and Grant was bad and Kwame Brown for Butler was bad, then where's Kwame Brown and Javaris Crittenton for Pau Gasol?

    Also, trades are made for a variety of reasons. You have to understand that Baron Davis went from the Hornets to the Warriors for Speedy Claxton and Dale Davis because Davis had a huge expiring contract. The Hornets tanked, drafted Chris Paul and signed Peja Stojakovic and Bobby Jackson with the money they freed up. If the trade were Baron Davis for Chris Paul, Peja Stojakovic, and Bobby Jackson you would reconsider.

    If the Magic trading McGrady to the Rockets for Francis, Mobley, and Cato was bad then how about the Knicks trading Trevor Ariza and Penny Hardaway's expiring contract to Orlando for Francis?

    How about the Suns trading Stephon Marbury and Penny Hardaway to the Knicks for the expiring contract of Antonio McDyess, Maciej Lampe, Howard Eisley, Charlie Ward, rights to Milos Vujanic, 2004 first round pick. The Suns freed up the cap space to sign Steve Nash and found someone dumb enough to take Marbury and his contract that doesn't expired until next summer.

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      Just because a team tells you not to do something doesn't mean you should stop what you are doing and just listen to them. That just shows how immature Kobe was. It was all on Kobe he was the one who decided not to work out for other teams and he was the one when asked by other teams to work out for them to only say he's going to play for the Lakers.

      It's all on Kobe he's the one who refused to work out for other teams and told them that he was going to become a Laker. Throughout his career in LA we've seen Kobe's immaturity the infamous demanding the Lakers to trade him or trade Andrew Bynum, the Colorado incident with the alleged rape, cheating on his wife, etc.....

      Kobe is pathetic!

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      It's funny that I'm arguing with a guy who thinks it's Carlesimo's fault that Sprewell choked him. Kobe grew up a Laker fan. He trusted Jerry West and knew that he would be playing with Shaq. He looked at it as the perfect opportunity for his career. To go to the NBA's most stable franchise with the league's best GM.

      The team didn't tell him to do anything. They asked him to and he was cool with it because he wanted to be a Laker. Kobe's dad and Arn Tellem were in control of his career back then. It turned out to be a good move since he's got three rings and five total Finals appearances.

      I'm not disagreeing with you that Kobe was immature. That's a different conversation. What I'm telling you is that you're story about Kobe refusing to play for the Hornets isn't true.

      Even if your bullshit theory were true it wouldn't stop teams from drafting him. Danny Ferry refused to play for the Clippers in 1989 and they drafted him anyway. So he went to play in Italy and the Clippers traded his rights to the Cavs for Ron Harper and three draft picks.

      If the Warriors had the twelfth pick in the draft and asked you not to work out for any other team because they wanted to draft you then you'd probably stop working out for other teams too. The difference is that Kobe wanted to play for a team that actually has a tradition of competing for championships annually, unlike the Warriors who have a tradition of competing in the draft lottery annually.

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  1. ...

    You should list this type of things form 10 to 1. To build interest.

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    vince carter for alvin and erik williams (alznzo mourning - never played a game for toronto)

    the raps could have go SOOOOOO much more for vince

    if only colangelo was the gm at the time

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    vince carter for alvin and erik williams (alznzo mourning - never played a game for toronto)

    the raps could have go SOOOOOO much more for vince

    if only colangelo was the gm at the time

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    vince carter for alvin and erik williams (alznzo mourning - never played a game for toronto)

    the raps could have go SOOOOOO much more for vince

    if only colangelo was the gm at the time

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    i agree that this should have been listed #10 to #1 but other than that it was a good list of miscalculations. Its obvious others thought so as you tallied quite a read. Bravo.

    hey, I don't know if you watch wrestling but i did a piece comparing NBA players and WWE stars. Would love for you to check it and let me know what you think:

    http://bleacherreport.com/articles/95124-wwe-wrestlers-and-their-nba-counterparts

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    yeah, i agree with the vlade divac-kobe trade, what would it be if kobe remains in charlotte?, just wandering..

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    Bryant did indeed tell the other teams in the league that he would only play for the Lakers. That's why the Nets chose to draft Kittles instead of him. Kittles was a four year collegian, but at the same time, everyone viewed Bryant as the better prospect.

    With that in mind, the Hornets made a brilliant move trading a player that would never play for them for a legitimate center. Divac was definitely a top ten center during that time.

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    you should have gone from 10-1 instead of 1-10. it keeps the suspense up that way, while the other way doesn't

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  9. ...

    That Kobe trade is a joke. Love the cigarette part. Great list.
    BTW, Hill may be injury-plagued, but he is still a great player.

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    I always point at my 76ers...

    Draft of Shawn Bradley #2 in 1993.

    or

    trade of Moses Malone for Jeff Ruland...

    or

    trade of Brad Daugherty for Roy Hinson.

    The other two were listed in this article with Wilt and Barkley trades.

    Ed

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    Yeah, Vlade for Kobe.

    BAD trade!!

    HA!!!!!

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    Other honerable mentions courtesy of my Cavaliers:

    Cleveland trades Ron Harper, two #1 picks and a #2 to the Clippers for the rights to Danny Ferry.

    Cleveland trades Butch Lee and their #1 pick in the '82 draft to the Lakers for Don Ford and their #1 pick. Lakers take James Worthy at #1, Cleveland takes John Bagely at #12. This one led to the infamous "Stepien Rule."

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    Cleveland trades Ron Harper, two #1 picks and a #2 to the Clippers for the rights to Danny Ferry.

    Cleveland trades Butch Lee and their #1 pick in the '82 draft to the Lakers for Don Ford and their #1 pick. Lakers take James Worthy at #1, Cleveland takes John Bagely at #12. This one led to the infamous "Stepien Rule."

    Those trades, and sending Kevin Johnson to Phoenix instead of Mark Price in 88 in the Nance deal, prevented a good Cleveland from getting over the hump. That, and injuries to players like Daugherty and Price.

    Another bad trade was the Kareem to LA trade in 75, where the Bucks got basically nothing. Couldn't they have gotten a better deal anywhere? Oh, what might have been if Phoenix won that flip in 69 instead of Milwaukee.

    As for the 1980 Boston-Golden St. trade, how was Auerbach able to just rob these teams the way he did? I don't like to use the word, but, in a sense, he raped a lot of teams in trades. It happened with the Russell trade in the 50's, and it happened in 84 when he sent Gerald Henderson to the Sonics for a first round pick, which Boston used to take Bias. He pulled the wool over a lot of teams eyes in these trades. The Boston-LA rivalry in the 80's was built on a foundation of bad trades by other teams:

    Lakers:
    Bucks: The Kareem Trade
    Cavs: The Worthy Trade
    Jazz: They won the coin flip in 79, but had to send it to LA in an earlier deal for Gail Goodrich, and the Lakers used the pick on Magic.
    Clippers: They gave the Lakers Byron Scott for Norm Nixon.

    Celtics:
    Warriors: The McHale-Parish fiasco
    Suns: The Dennis Johnson trade
    And, the Sonics giftwrapped Bias to them in the Gerald Henderson deal, but, fate stepped in.

    How were the Celtics and Lakers so smart, and the rest of the league so stupid?

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    While there were worse trades, the Nique for Manning deal was a franchise killer. It would have been more understandable if they were 25-26 and he was being dealt to a contender as a 'final piece' while the Hawks received picks and/or young players to rebuild with ala Ray Bourque being shipped to the Avs to get a ring before retiring. But the Hawks had the best record in the league at the time with no Bird, Magic, MJ, or Isiah to deal with. It was his final shot to get that elusive ring and Hawks' management squashed it all in the name of getting a 'younger' player with the knees of a 70-year old who just happened to be a free agent.

    Not only was he traded, but traded to NBA-Siberia for a guy who didn't get off the tarmac good before talking about playing somewhere else. Manning wanted nothing to do with the Hawks (and played that way), when Nique not only spent over a decade carrying the entire franchise on his back while his HOF counterparts had loads of help but was also a working-class hero to the city when the Braves and Falcons were god-awful. Folks in Atlanta didn't forget, especially after that team got thumped by the Pacers in the second round, only to see Manning hop on the first plane to PHOENIX after getting eliminated. Don't believe me? Ask Steve Smith, Dikembe Mutombo, and Mookie Blaylock why they had to play in front of empty seats at the Omni for the next five years afterwards.

    Name another superstar who did more for his team, only to be treated worse by their front-office. I dare you....

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      Tracy McGrady was born and grew up not too far away from Orlando, and yet the Magic organization allowed their idiot hockey fan John Weisbrod to kick him out. T-Mac had two scoring titles with the Magic and got them to the playoffs three times. The Magic drafted Dwight Howard and Jameer Nelson the same year they dumped T-Mac. Weisbrod is a fool for thinking that Dwight Howard and Tracy McGrady on the same team is a bad idea. He clearly only knew about hockey and just didn't like T-Mac as a person.

      T-Mac has had injury problems, but that's no excuse for dumping him. The Magic have added some good pieces since then, but no one as dynamic as T-Mac.

      I don't know much about the Hawks before Smith/Mutombo/Blaylock were there, but it sounds similar to what the Magic did to Tracy.

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    One trade that I think should be on there, or at least honorable mention is when the Sonics traded Olden Polynice for Scottie Pippen on draft day. Without this trade, who would Jordan's sidekick have been?

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    i seriously don't think the shaq trade will be one of the worst all time. If you look at his stats he isn't doing all that bad. The suns were never going to win with marion anyways with our terrible defense. I personally like the trade.

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    I guess Matt is either hiding in a corner with his tail between his legs or he's doing some last minute shopping...

    The Shaq trade should not be mentioned. Shaq hated Kobe then, and he probably still does. The Lakers had to choose between Kobe and Shaq. You have to go with Kobe. Then they had to get some value for Shaq. Odom and Butler still have value. They traded Butler, but that has nothing to do with the Shaq trade. Odom is part of their team still, and when the Lakers win another championship there will be no argument. Shaq winning a title in Miami doesn't outweigh the potential that the Lakers have now.

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    Thanx everyone for posting a comment on my article. I like wut i put up for my top 10 worst NBA trades of all time. Ya i guess there is a some trades i missed but im just putting some of the top 10 trades thats all.

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    yOUR ARTICLE 10 WORST NBA TRADES OF ALL TIME, LEFT OUT THE #1 WORST TRADE EVER, Ever,Ever!!!!!!!
    The Milwakuee Bucks traded KAREEM IN 1975 TO THE LA LAKERS FOR SUCH RENOUN PLayers (are you ready for this) walt wedley elmore smith brain winters dave myers and junior bridgeman.KAREEM WENT ON TO WIN THE MVP THAT YEAR AND LEAD THE LEAGUE IN PONTS REBOUND AND BLOCKED SHOTS. HE PLAYED 14 MORE YEARS FOR THE LAKERS. HE IS ONE OF THE TOP 3 CENTERS OF ALL TIME. ALSO IS RANKED IN ANYONES POLL AS ONE OF THE TOP 10 PLAYERS THAT EVER LIVED.
    HOW COULD YOU OVER LOOK THIS TRADE? HOW?

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    ya but kwame turned into pau gasol whos a way better player than caron butler

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    The lakers also got Jordan Farmar out of the Shaq trade.

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    After the 1985-86 season the Sixers traded Moses Malone, Terry Catledge AND TWO first round picks to the Bullets for Jeff Ruland and Cliff Robinson.....one of the worst trades ever. The Sixers have never been the same team since then.

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